The Games Are Back
by KitKatTicTac
Summary: The Games are back, and Willow Hawthorne is picked at the reaping. Her father, Gale Hawthorne, is shocked at the mentor choice. Who could this mysterious person be? Obvious, obvious. Rated T because, well, it's the Hunger Games.
1. Willow Hawthorne

Ello, again! I don't own UC. Suzanne Collins does. I don't own Suzanne Collins, either. Whatever. So once you start sleeping on sharp rocks and drying your hair with your third hand, that's when I will own it. Or her. BLAH! ON WITH THE STORY!

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><p>Ok, this isn't the story. This is actually sort of an apology for not updating Forgotten Land. I'm having block for it, so I probably won't be updating for a while. Meanwhile, I came up with this after re-reading Mockingjay. Enjoy!<p>

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><p>"Willow Hawthorne!" Calls out Effie Trinket, the sixty year old woman who reaped the names. It was obvious she hated the Games, especially since they had been gone for fifteen years then the Capitol just decided to bring them back up. The color drains from my face. Effie gestures for me to come up to the stage, and I look out at the crowd and almost faint at the sight. There must be at least six hundred people of District Two. To the right, I see the area roped off for other fourteen year old teenagers, my friends Jasmine and Ian off to the side with their faces distorted into horrible grimaces. My father, Gale Hawthorne, is in the back, near expressionless but just the faintest hint of sadness. My mother went missing a few months after I was born. But daddy refuses to tell me my mother's name. My observations are cut off by Effie's high pitched voice calling out the other name:<p>

"Ian Evenlast!" I slap my forehead and groan. Ian, my best friend. Now Jasmine looks even more devastated than ever, but she holds her tears and gives Ian a light, playful push forward towards the stage.

"Now, here are the rules!" Effie says cheerfully. "This is different from the last Games fifteen years ago. Two may win, so long as they are from the same district. Mentors will be chosen by random through Districts 1 through 13! Instead of living at the Capitol, you will just return here after everyday of practice. Is this all clear?"

Ian and I nod glumly. Effie smiles deviously and says demonically,

"Say goodbye and board the train. Then meet your mentors."

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><p>The moment I am free, I immediately run into daddy's arms. He quickly picks me up, carries me home, and whispers a strategy to me.<p>

"Get a bow. I've taught you enough about them. Get a knife, or a sword." Being a Career, though a nice one, I am good with almost every weapon. I hear him say under his breath, 'I can't lose Willow to the Games too. Never.' But I decide it's only my imagination. Next, Jasmine visits. Her eyebrows are raised and she is hyperventilating.

"Here. Take this. My mother's friend gave it to her, and she gave it to me." She quickly fastens a golden mockingjay pin onto my shirt. I lift one eyebrow.

"Interesting. Thank you." Jasmine's mother is Joanna Mason. She kept her maiden name after marrying.

"Goodbye." She gives me a rib crushing hug, then scurries out of my living room. No more visitors. Tributes aren't allowed to visit other tributes, for fear of harming one another. I'm not hurt that Ian couldn't visit me. I quickly grab some bread from the counter, hug daddy goodbye, then rush out into the train into the second car.

It's carrying Ian and a beautiful woman with storm gray eyes and a lovely braid down her back. Her lips are a nude shade of pink, and she wears no makeup but dark purple highlights on her eyelids, just a touch here and there, to show her eyes aren't all gray, but instead more of a gray-violet. She's talking to three people, one looks forty, the other two look around fifty or sixty. I catch the words "Flavius, Venia, and Octavia" throughout the conversation. They give terse nods and she half smiles at them, then they shuffle off of the train, talking about "how nice Katniss is."They sound genuine. Well, if this is my mentor, and the three think she's nice, I just might win the games. The woman notices me for the first time, then stands up and gives that same friendly half smile.

"Hello, Willow. I am your mentor, Katniss Everdeen Mellark."


	2. Secrets

Don't own HGT.

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><p>Sorry for the short chapter a while ago, and maybe now. PLEASE REVIEW! ON WITH THE STORY! (points and hums Batman theme)<p>

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><p>I shake hands with her cautiously. The name sounds vaguely familiar.<p>

"I'm Willow Hawthorne." I say. But she doesn't hear. She's saying something already.

"Go ahead and eat, sit with Ian." I obey. The meal consists of bread rolls with lamb stew and goat cheese. There is a vase on the table containing one primrose. I have to try my best to not stuff my face into the stew and just slurp up the whole thing. Ian looks like he could choke, he's eating everything so fast. In a few minutes, we are both done and satisfied. Katniss studies us for a while, then says,

"Don't show them you're good at anything. Pretend you are bad at everything, but during private sessions just practice. Get a high score on the Gamemakers' points. My friend taught me that technique.

"But what if we are good at-" Ian begins, but Katniss cuts him off with a glare.

"Bad. At. Everything! Then towards the end of the games, just surprise them," she checks her watch."Ok, we're here. Training will begin." My fellow tribute and I are shocked.

"Just like that?" He asks. Katniss nods.

"Just like that."

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><p>A few minutes later, we all sit in one cluster while Effie goes over the agenda from now to the arena. Training, home, Chariot Rides, home, training, home, training, home, training, home, Gamemakers' test, scoring, home, games. We are all allowed to go home before the games instead of staying at dorms, but it would be like house arrest or something except for Training, Chariot rides, the Gamemakers' Test and scoring. Effie finally lets us train, and I surveyed the other tributes. I was the smallest Career, the others much taller and muscley-er (AN: LOL! MUSCLEY-ER!) than me. Ian and I stayed together. He was good with a knife, but only pretended to be Intermediate. At the edible plants station, I almost died. At the weapons station, I hit the target almost every time. A few tributes stuck in my mind:a boy who hit targets only about 1% of the time, a Career from District 1 who snapped a thick log in half with his bare hands, and a girl who made no sound as she hopped from foot to foot to each station. After eight hours, Effie announced the day was over, much to everybody's relief. Ian and I boarded the train, where Katniss was sitting there with the same three people from a while ago, sketching on a sketchpad.

"What are you doing?" Ian asks. Katniss flips over the sketchpad.

"Nothing. By the way, this is Flavius, Venia, and Octavia." Each nods in turn.

The journey home was uneventful. Katniss and the trio each were whispering to each other, occasionally looking at me as though they saw something familiar. When the train finally stopped at the edge of District 2, I walked home, managing to catch a groosling and wring it's neck. Daddy and I had a hearty dinner, with delicious cooked groosling and bread that we had traded for some rabbit that dad had caught. He asks many questions, but the one that makes him nearly have a heart attack is who my mentor was.

"So, who's your mentor? Haymitch Abernathy? Peeta Mellark?" He asked between mouthfuls.

"Dad, Haymitch Abernathy is forty-five and drunk. And no, it's not Peeta Mellark, it's his wife, Katniss Everdeen Mellark." I say.

He spits out his groosling, but not before he chokes on it.

"K-K-Katniss, Everdeeeeeeee-AH-n?"

"Mellark. Everdeen Mellark." I say. "Her _maiden _name was Everdeen. Not Everdeeeeeeee-AH-n."

"Willow," he says. "Go to bed. Now."

"What?" I protest. "It's only 6:00! What's your problem?"

"Bed. NOW." He points to my bedroom. I groan and stomp off. That night I go through the events in my head. I hate being left in the dark. I wonder what was wrong. The same thoughts are running through my head throughout the night:

"_What secret is he keeping from me?"_

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><p>There's Chapter 2! Sorry it's so short... I got lazy... Anyway, thanks so much to Coley13 and AllyLuvs for being the first two reviewers- virtual hug! I will forever be thankful to them, and anybody else who reviews, so please...<p>

FOLLOW SUIT AND REVIEW!


	3. Author's Note

**Whoa! I am sooooo sorry for not updating _any _of my stories, people! I am sooo sorry! I cannot even say how sorry I am! **

**AnywhatIwasplanning, I wanted to make so many new stories! I had a lot of good plots, but now I forgot them... :( I think I might be able to make a new story for "The Enchanted Forest Chronicles." That's a good series people! Read it! NOW. All of my stories are on hold, because I am up to my ears in homework.**my computer broke down. My mom has the laptop, so... Yeah. I wanted to update so much! I had so many good plots, like I said. ****

**Anyway, I am SOOOOOOOO SORRY! I AM ALSO SORRY FOR MAKING YOU THINK THIS WAS A CHAPTER! GWAAAAAH! I'M CRYING! HERE'S A VIRTUAL COOKIE EVERYONE! NOT THE VIRUS KIND, THOUGH! (no, seriously, I'm crying.)**


	4. Interview Day

This chapter is dedicated to JDFan18 and Eliza J. Thank you, once again, for reminding me that this fanfiction existed. BEWARE: My writing style has changed quite a bit. Not drastically, but quite a bit.

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><p>The past three days in training have been uneventful. Day four. Tomorrow is our last day of training. Then on Day six, it's the interviews with Caesar Flickerman... Then the games.<p>

The days have flown by too fast.

It's hard to think, the Capitol only allowed us with five days of training.

So those _idiots _expect us to train for only five days with no prior experience, then _waltz _into a makeshift _stage _and into certain _doom_?

It doesn't seem very efficient, if you ask me.

Katniss seemed to pounding on me more, recently. It seemed as if she had taken an instant apathy towards me the second I had walked on board the train. She still mentored me correctly; I was wholly sure that the information she was feeding me would not inevitably kill me.

However, she seemed to be holding a grudge. I wonder if this grudge had anything to do with my father's strange behavior the other night...?

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><p>On the next day, the three of us (Katniss, Ian, and I) stayed at the table after dinner discussing our interview angles.<p>

Katniss said that the star-crossed lovers was how she had won the games, but that was cliche and the Capitol probably wouldn't be as interested in it. Almost everybody had been doing it ever since the Katniss and Peeta incident, but they weren't Katniss and Peeta, and their mentors weren't Haymitch, Katniss said. I frowned. Star crossed lovers? That _did _seem a little bit cheesy.

In the end, we had decided I would play up the cute, innocent, but deadly act, and Ian would play the mischievous. charming, and impossible not to like act. With my chocolate brown hair, large brown eyes, and petite stature, I could pull off my part. With Ian's tousled black hair, upturned eyebrows, and impish grin, he could pull off his. Everybody already liked him back in District 2, anyway.

We were to pretend that we were friends from birth who were having a ridiculous fight over a small matter that I started. That was also easy. During training, we seemed to have been avoiding each other. We already were friends since we were five.

On that note, I wonder how Jasmine is doing. Was she okay? She had burst into tears when she was visiting me.

After what seemed like hours of pulling and plucking, I was finally ready to see my stylist. She wasn't even half as normal as Effie Trinket, and had a name that nobody, not even Katniss could pronounce. We were simply to call her Miss.

Originally, I was supposed to be in pink. After I showed Miss my district token, which was a rich chocolate brown (which Ian had given me because it supposedly matched my eyes), we decided to make my dress the same color.

I had thought about bringing the mockingjay pin Jasmine had given me, but somehow I had lost it on the train or the tracks. I already had my ribbon tied up in my hair, and since it's mandatory to have a district token, I just took it out of my hair and started toying with it.

"Well!" I jump at the sudden high pitched squeal that belonged to my crazy stylist. "Well, well, well, well, well! What a little cutie I get to work with this year! I look forward to working with you, darling!"

Miss pinches my cheek, hard. Then has the nerve to actually slap my face playfully.

"So, looks like Mrs. Mellark wants you in chocolate brown, hm? What a wonderful decision! That matches your eyes so perfectly! I've already got the perfect little outfit for you!"

Duh. She's supposed to. And her little happy-go-lucky when I'm about to die attitude is really starting to get on my nerves, especially because I don't even know how to pronounce her name.

She orders me to close my eyes as she rushes into another room to get my dress. I pace around awkwardly, not really caring that my eyes were closed and I could trip over anything at any moment.

I hear Miss clambering into the room. I feel something silky slip over my head.

When I open my eyes and look into the mirror, I am breathless.

My dress was nothing too special or fancy. It was a knee length empire waist, with layer layers and a veil on top on the lower part. A thick brown sash was tied into an elegant bow at my left side. Above the sash, the top half of the dress was strapless and pleated vertically.

My makeup was not too thick, just a small little bit of eyeshadow and eyeliner here and there to make my eyes appear larger and softer. Blush was applied at my cheeks, and pink lipstick was swiped across my lips, making them seem sculpted and perfect.

The only problem I had with the entire outfit was my nails. They would have been alright if they were simply _painted _the same chocolate brown as the rest of my outfit, but Octavia, Venia, and Flavius (who Katniss had specifically assigned to me) had actually gone so far as to glue small, thin, brown bows onto my nail tips. So, I assumed that the theme was chocolate brown bows. Oh well. It's not like anybody would notice them.

Miss was actually crying about how so amazingly beautiful I was, if I do say so myself.

"Beautiful! You're so amazingly beautiful, if I do say so myself!"

I had to agree with her there.

We put the last finishing touches on. Brown peep toe shoes, of course with bows on the ends, a sidetie with two curls framing my face (Miss was thanking me for having my hair already in ringlets), my ribbon as a bow in my hair, off to the side, dangling gold hoop earrings, and another swipe of lipstick and lip gloss.

Everybody in the room — Miss, Octavia, Venia, and Flavius — sighed and aww'd. Then Miss took off running outside screaming, "Mrs. Mellark! Mrs. Mellark!" Like a five year old whose toy had just been broken by his older sibling. Sobbing, screaming, and out of control.

A few minutes later, Katniss walked into the room and nodded in approval.

"Perfect. She looks just like a doll. Somebody I would want to hug and swoon over, if I was somebody like you, Aeniil... Miss."

Well. I was quite impressed that Katniss got the first two syllables of my stylist's name right.

Miss didn't seem to take offense to this, although Katniss obviously meant it to be that way.

"Twirl for me." Katniss ordered, and she flinched a little bit as she said it.

I twirled, and my dress spread out around me like wings. I think it was the veil that did it.

"Alright," Katniss said. "The interviews start in less than ten minutes. Willow, you're going to be sitting here, between Felix Collins and Ian."

Oh, Felix Collins? I recognized his name. He was good-looking and smart I suppose, from District One, somebody Jasmine would definitely swoon over. He's fourteen. He asked me to ally with him. I figured since he was somebody Jasmine would like, I accepted. So afterwards, I guess he got the wrong idea and tried flirting with me. He ended up with his hand in a noose that I was working on. I left him there complaining and telling me to get him out, which was the reason I was starting to have second thoughts about allying with him.

He's _very _good with almost all of the weapons, however. The only ones he's horrible at are knives, traps (if that counts), spears, and bows and arrows, which happen to be the ones I was great at.

The thought of sitting next to him during the interviews made me grimace. He was surely going to try to talk to me, and if I tell him to shut up, I'll get caught. We're not supposed to talk at the interviews.

And then this dress. It was a little bit lower down my torso than I wanted it to be. Unlike most fourteen year olds, I preferred being more covered.

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><p>A few minutes later, I am sitting with my ankles crossed in an unceremonious chair.<p>

"You look nice," Ian says, grinning. I roll my eyes at him, then turn to Felix.

"Listen, Casanova. Don't even _think _about talking to me during the interviews unless you want to assure we're both killed during the games."

His small smirk slowly grows into a grin that matches Ian's perfectly. He opens his mouth to say something, when the anthem plays and we all stand up. After the anthem, we all sit back down and less stuffy music comes on, as Caesar walks out with his chest puffed out. He's smiling and waving casually though.

This year, everything on his body save his eyes and open mouth are dyed white. White was the color for the first games. The first games were also in a snowy wasteland. White is also the color that symbolizes beginning.

Caesar warms things up a little bit, telling jokes and such. Then, it's down to business.

The girl from District One was taking on a smart act, with her legs crossed, her back straight, her hands folded on her lap, and perky demeanor.

"Well, Caesar, I must say, I was quite flabbergasted when I became aware of the fact that I would be partaking in this palpitating annual thrill of an event."

Caesar just stared at her as if she had just sprouted another head.

Felix was a womanizer and a smooth talker with his feet up on the coffee table and one arm dangling behind the couch.

"Yeah, yeah. It's all cool. The rooms are pretty hot, and I don't mean in the tempurature way. Just like the ladies. When I make it out alive, well..." He winked at the audience, and there were some squeals from some girls in the audience and on the stage.

Pretty soon, they were calling my name. I sighed to get a hold of myself, stood up, smoothed out my dress, and lithely walked over to Caesar.

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><p>It looked like my stylists had done a very good job on my attire, because there were people were aww-ing all over the place as if I were some newborn baby. Effie had made me practice a light walk. Right, toe, arch, heel, skip. Left, toe, arch, heel, skip. Right, toe, arch, heel, skip. This went on until I had reached Caesar. I smoothed out my dress once more, sat down on the couch, and shook Caesar's hand.<p>

"Wonderful nails you've got there!" He said lightly. I tensed for a small moment. Nobody was supposed to notice that. Now the cameras were zoomed in on my nails.

"Thank you! I _begged _my stylists to do them like that! I absolutely _love_ ribbons!" I was practically lying through gritted teeth.

This got more people from the audience swooning and squealing. I heard somebody scream, "How adorable!" I could see Katniss nod in approval in the stands. She made a motion with her hands and mouthed, "Keep going."

Caesar chuckled.

"Well, aren't you charming! Tell me, what else do you love?"

"Hmm..." I put a finger to my chin and pretended to be in deep thought. "I guess... My daddy, desserts, strawberries, and... how about knives? Especially the type that you throw."

This sent the audience into hysterics. However, anybody that knew me back home, or had even said a single word to me, would know that I was a little bit like this, but definitely not _all _the way like this.

"Oh, really? Knives?" Caesar questioned with an eyebrow raised and a small amused little smile. "I like knives, too! Except for I prefer the type of knives that you cut desserts with, and then give those desserts to your 'daddy.'"

I gave a fake giggle and a weak smile at his corny joke. He didn't notice, though.

"Maybe that would be a little safer..." I said, acting embarrassed. I felt phony. That wasn't a very fun feeling.

Caesar chuckled. Again. Either I was wrong about being a bad actress, or he was just pretending to not see through my act. I only needed to fool the audience, though, and these people from the Capitol were just plain idiots. They already believed me.

"So, Willow," he carried on. "Have you gotten attached with any of the other tributes during training, or made some friends?"

I froze. I had to say that Ian was my best friend. But if I didn't say that I was "attached" to Felix, then he would probably break off the alliance, which would definitely help me out. If I _did _say that I was attached to Felix (which I wasn't!), then he would probably get even more annoying.

I thought out my answer before I said anything.

"Yeah! I guess Felix and I are friends, I mean, he likes red velvet cake, too, which happens to be my favorite. I was friends with Ian before, but then—" The buzzer rang.

Caesar pouted.

"I wish I could ask you, but your time's up! Ladies and gentlemen, Willow Hawthorne!"

I received a standing ovation.

When I had returned to my seat, and Ian had gone up to his, I was blank for the first part. My mind wandered. Would I get sponsors? Would I win the games? Did Felix actually like red velvet cake?

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Caesar said, as if a fifty kilowatt lightbulb had gone off in his head. "What was Willow about to say before the buzzer so _rudely _interrupted her?" He gave a dramatic flip of his hair and glared at the buzzer as if it were an actual human being that needed to be scolded.

"Oh, that," Ian smirked mischievously. "Well, Willow can be a bit of a drama queen—" I pretended to take offense to this "—and she sort of flew off the handle when I told her that I didn't like red velvet cake."

Caesar looked terrified.

"How could you do such a thing? I demand you apologize to her right now!"

Ian turned around and he made a big show of apologizing to me until the buzzer rang.

"Well, that's all the time we have for Ian Evenlast, today, folks! _What _a catchy name!"

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><p>Effie was gushing about how perfect we were, how great of an actress I was, how we looked so cute together up on the stage, and how Felix's almost jealous expression was priceless.<p>

"They were good," Katniss admitted grudgingly. "They're going to have sponsors, for sure."

Well, Katniss, you never know until the games start, do you...?

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><p><strong>1. Yay! I'm finished! I'm so happy! Thank you to the reviewers out there who forced me to continue, which is pretty much all of you!<strong>

**2. Haha, to any of you that read or watch Ouran, did you see the little references I ****unconsciously slipped into the chapter? **

**3. I deliberately made this chapter as long as I could without falling asleep, because it's 11:00 P.M. over here. Mostly because I haven't updated for around eight months. That, and I absolutely _loved _writing this! Willow, you're like a little ball of clay in my hands! Mwaha_ha_!**

**4. SPOILER ALERT FOR THE REST OF THE STORY-ISH — Ok, so I'm sort of thinking about making Ian, Willow, and Felix into some sort of love triangle, sort of like a nightlock thing, but not exactly the same. You know, only one comes out on top? However, I don't know who that's gonna be. One of them has to die. I mean, IT'S THE HUNGER GAMES! ONLY ONE (or in Katniss' and Willow's case, only two survive) SURVIVES! **

**So, I'm thinking about having a vote, which will start once you finish reading the end of this footnote. You get to vote, via review or P.M., which "team" you're on; Team Felix, or Team Ian! Here are the rules:**

**— You must include, in the subject, who you want. For the actual message, please tell why. Nothing like, "Because they're cute together" is going to work.**

**— You may only vote once! I will keep track of your names!**

**— No anonymous reviews. Anonymous reviews will not be counted, because people can just make those up and vote twice.**

**— The winning team will be announced on the third to last chapter.**

**The reason the winning team will be announced on the third to last chapter is because I will be making alternate endings. Whoever gets more votes, I will write first. And, if I write a sequel (no promises, although I probably will), I will write about that person first.**

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><p><strong>Thank you very much for reading, and once again, although it's a bit new...<strong>

**VOTE AND REVIEW!**


	5. Let The Games Begin

That night I found it hard to sleep. Of course, because I was about to get killed tomorrow. I crawled out of bed and took a walk around the Capitol building. Each door had their tribute's names on them. _Ian Evenlast, two, Felix Collins, one, Catarina Capulet, one, Kennan Raines, thirteen, Persimmon Winther, thirteen, Walker Lewis, twelve, Acacia Evans, twelve... _I continued this way until I came back to two. Accepting the fact of my certain death, I went back to bed and fell back asleep.

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><p>As soon as I woke up, I went straight to breakfast and stuffed myself. This could easily be my last good meal. Or my last meal, period. Obviously, I was forever the pessimist. Effie didn't even make a comment on how sloppily I was eating.<p>

I go to Miss. She dresses me up in a gray tank top ("But Willow! It may get hot in the arena! The Gamemakers said so!"), a half cut bomber jacket ("But Willow! It's lined with rabbit fur on the inside and on the hood! It will keep you warm!"), white legged jeans ("But Willow! It will be easier to camouflage because it's white!"), and dark brown combat boots. I tucked my jeans into my boots and rolled my jacket sleeves halfway up. I didn't bother to zip my jacket because it was pretty hot where I was getting dressed. Miss Gave me a black leather belt, which I slipped into the belt loops around my hips. She also gave me a pair of charcoal coloured gloves. The insides were lined with soft material, possibly the same rabbit fur on the jacket.

I took off the bows on my nails, sending Miss into hysterics. Katniss insisted my hair be put in a braid. I asked why. She stroked my loose hair.

"Because, little Willow, I wore a braid and I won the Hunger Games."

I could tell this wasn't the reason.

Miss intertwined the ribbon and my hair into a braid. She was blubbering all over me the entire time she did.

When I was finally free of her and just about ready to leave, she said,

"Oh, Willow, Mrs. Mellark told me to give this to you. She said she found it on the train."

Miss attached the mockingjay pin to my jacket. _My _mockingjay pin.

I looked at it in surprise. Would the Gamemakers let it in?

"Thank you, Miss."

I was escorted to a large glass tube, then pushed inside.

It was terrifying inside that tube. I could see outside, but not be able to reach. Above me was certain death.

The tube began to move. My eyes widened. I pounded on the glass, begging the Peacekeeper to let me out. Of course, he didn't.

When the tube stopped, I took in my surroundings.

Nothing. Ahead of me, behind me, next to me, was pitch black. The head gamemaker's voice came up from who knows where.

"Hello, tributes! We realize you may be slightly disoriented right now, but please. Do not panic. You have not gone blind. You are simply in an extremely large cave. The Cornucopia is here, we assure you. With that said, let the Seventy-sixth annual Hunger Games begin!"

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><p><strong>Whoa, that's a short chapter.<strong>


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